30 years after the open letter: Hezbollah and the necessary revisions

In 1985, three years after it was established in 1982, Hezbollah released what it called “An Open Letter to all the Oppressed” and it was read in Hussainia Al-Shuyah (in Beirut’s southern suburbs) by Hezbollah’s spokesman at the time and the current chairman of the Political Council Sheikh Ibrahim Amin Al-Sayyid. The letter outlined the party’s vision and its position on the situation in Lebanon and the region. This letter is distinguished by its clear and explicit language, as well as its prophetic vision and its loud Islamic discourse. In 2009, the party released a new political document in which it voiced its positions on the situation in the region. This document was distinguished by its realistic language and an intellectual and political rhetoric similar to that of the left-wing and anti-globalisation movements.

Today, about 33 years after the establishment of the party and 30 years after the issuance of the open letter, and after the party has become a regional force and plays a large role in some countries as recently stated by the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran Ali Larijani, the party is facing new challenges and unexpected problems. The most dangerous of these problems are the high-level security violations by the American intelligence and the second most dangerous is the penetration of the Zionist intelligence. In addition to this, the surroundings close to the party have shown signs of corruption. Hezbollah also engaged in conflicts in the region which raised many questions and problems.

Although some of Hezbollah’s officials stress that the party’s fighting on various arenas, especially Syria, is in defence of the resistance project and in confrontation of the hostile American-Zionist project, this does not change the fact that there are many questions and problems regarding the party’s role and its future. This requires a comprehensive intellectual, political, and organisational revision in order to renew the party’s structure and to address the new intellectual and political challenges as well as confront the inflation of its organisational, military, security and popular structure, which have put it in a position of being prone to many problems and challenges.

Some of Hezbollah’s officials and leaders have sought to issue a number of books and studies on the party’s position as well as its intellectual and political visions. Such books include those written by deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah Sheikh Naeem Qasim, the most prominent of which is his book on Hezbollah’s vision, approach and future, as well as Hassan Fadlallah’s books, the most recent of which is titled Hezbollah and the State.

There is also a book by the leader Dr Hussain Abu Rida (known as Al-Haj Sajed) which talks about organisational mobilisation within the party. These books provide some intellectual, organisational, and political answers regarding the party’s positions, situation and roles.

However, those who observe the party’s progress and the situation of the surrounding areas, as well as the intellectual, political, moral, security and organisational problems it faces notice the party’s current need for a comprehensive intellectual and organisational workshop in order to renew its structure and role as well as confront the negative symptoms it is suffering from. Such symptoms were also suffered by many parties and movements such as the Palestinian revolution, the communist parties, the left-wing parties, as well as some of the nationalist, Nasserist and Baathist parties.

The expansion of any party and the spread of its role outside the borders of the country it is operating from, as well as having a large popular, military, security and organisational base and force belonging to it pose many challenges. These challenges may lead to security breaches and the exposure of corruption cases, and this requires the party to reassess its path and pinpoint the mistakes and problems.

Hezbollah is known for always making intellectual, organisational and political revisions and it is very flexible, always looking for better options. However, this does not mean that it will not face abnormal and unexpected problems, which is what happened recently with the dangerous security breaching by Israel which reached a high level in the foreign security agency. This calls for a partisan, intellectual and organisational mobilisation in order to discover the true reason behind this breach and to come up with a plan to address it.

Today, 33 years after its establishment and 30 years after the issuing its open letter, Hezbollah has become a major regional force, its power is equal to that of some counties. This puts it in a position to face new challenges that require a comprehensive revision and reconsideration in order for the party not to collapse, just as other organisational and partisan movements have in the past.

Translated from Arabi21, 31 December, 2014

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.